Kashgari man and Jonway UFO A380 After exploring the extraordinary pick-up landscape in Kashgar, some 3.400km away from Beijing in South-Western China, we now go into its overall car landscape. In Chinese classification, we have gone from first-tier city (Beijing), 2nd-tier (Chongqing), 3rd-tier (Ürümqi) and now with Kashgar we are at…
Guarding his Chana pick-up with pride. (Click on any photo to enlarge) After Beijing, Chongqing and Ürümqi, as promised we are now headed 1.080km South-West to the hinterland of the hinterland: Kashgar, China's westernmost city and predominantly populated by Muslim Uyghurs. To give you a rough idea of what Kashgar looks like, the…
Hyundai Verna in Ürümqi (click on any picture to enlarge) This is Part 2 of my Ürümqi Photo Report, you can check out Part 1 about the surprising strength of budget Chinese brands here. Yesterday I reported on how the Shanghai Englon SC7, SC3 and SC6, Dongfeng Fengshen S30 and H30 Cross…
Urumqi street scene (Click on any image to enlarge) After Beijing and Chongqing, we now travel to Ürümqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region at the extreme West of China. As described in my previous article The cars of Chongqing - Central China, the Chinese hinterland is going to absorb most…
Chana Taurustar, Chana Star & Wuling Hongguang in Chongqing – April 2014 * See the Top 30 best-selling vehicles (PC and LCV) by clicking on the title! * Now that the Top 10 most popular Light Commercial Vehicles in China are known, I can give you the Top 30 best-selling…
Chana Taurustar in Ciqikou, Chongqing - April 2014 * See the Top 10 best-selling LCVs by clicking on the title! * Thanks to data graciously shared by Chinese market experts LMC Automotive, we now have access for the first time on BSCB to a Top 10 Light Commercial Vehicle ranking for…
Chongqing street scene (Click on any picture to enlarge) Now that you know the secrets of Beijing hutongs and the most impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show, we go on a bit of adventure inside China. First stop is Chongqing, one of the fastest-growing cities on earth, 1.500km…
Haval H8 And the winner is… Haval, Great Wall's SUV brand. This is Part 9 of my coverage of the Beijing Auto Show, check out also Part 1- First impressions, Part 2 – Most impressive Chinese carmakers #30 to #26, Part 3: Most impressive #25 to #21, Part 4: Most impressive #20 to #16, Part 5:…
Dongfeng Number 1 Concept This is it: the top of the crop, the utmost impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show. It doesn’t get better than this. Would you have guessed them? This is Part 8 of my Beijing Auto Show coverage, check out also Part 1- First impressions, Part 2 – Most…
Who would have thought Venucia could glam up the Nissan Leaf? We are now getting serious and entering the Top 10 most impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show. This is Part 7 of my Beijing Auto Show coverage, check out also Part 1- First impressions, Part 2 – Most impressive Chinese carmakers…
Chana Star in Dongsi hutong The legendary Beijing hutongs are tiny, charming alleyways formed by lines of traditional courtyard residences. An endangered species, the real Beijing lives and breathes in hutongs where a warm sense of community and hospitality survives. I was lucky enough to spend some time visiting hutongs during…
Maxxus G10. There. Now you know a new Chinese brand. I am getting more and more impressed as we go up my list of the most impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show, now from #15 to #11. This is Part 5 of my Beijing Auto Show coverage, check out…
MG5 Getting better and better in my ranking of the most impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show. This is Part 4 of my Beijing Auto Show 2014 coverage, check out also Part 1- First impressions, Part 2 – Most impressive Chinese carmakers #30 to #26 and Part 3 - Most impressive #25 to…
Fighting for a golden Lianhua We continue on my ranking of the most impressive Chinese carmakers at the Beijing Auto Show, now going from disappointing to neutral to ok with the ranks #25 to #21. This is Part 3 of my Beijing Auto Show 2014 coverage, you can see Part 1- First…
Deceivingly good-looking: the Hawtai Shengdafei This is Part 2 of my Beijing Auto Show 2014 coverage, you can see Part 1- First impressions here. In order to report to you with as much precision as possible my experience at the Beijing Auto Show I will rank all 30-odd Chinese carmakers…